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Volcano Types

Pyroclastic cone(s)

Tectonic Setting

Rift zoneContinental crust (> 25 km)

Rock Types

Major
Trachybasalt / Tephrite Basanite
Basalt / Picro-Basalt

Population

Within 5 kmWithin 10 kmWithin 30 kmWithin 100 km

20,736
20,736
33,847
72,402

Geological Summary

San Quintín volcanic field on the NW coast of Baja California consists of 11 late-Pleistocene to Holocene volcanic complexes. Low lava shields, initially submarine, are capped by well-preserved scoria cones. San Quintín rocks are similar to intraplate or oceanic island alkalic rocks and differ from other Baja alkalic volcanic suites. San Quintín is the only Quaternary volcanic field in Baja California where lower-crustal and upper-mantle xenoliths are found. The field is located at the margins of the Y-shaped San Quintín Bay and includes a northern and southern group of cones, Monte Mazo (connected to the mainland by a long tombolo), and Isla San Martín, 5 km offshore to the west. The youngest craters overlie deposits thought to be dated at 5-6000 years before present, and Gastil et al. (1975) considered the southern cones of Vizcaino and Sudoeste to possibly be less than 3000 years old. However, later Argon/Argon dating (Ortega-Rivera et al., 2004) restricted eruptions to a range of between about 20,000 to 180,000 years ago.

This compilation of synonyms and subsidiary features may not be comprehensive. Features are organized into four major categories: Cones, Craters, Domes, and Thermal Features. Synonyms of features appear indented below the primary name. In some cases additional feature type, elevation, or location details are provided.

Cones

Feature Name

Feature Type

Elevation

Latitude

Longitude

Basu

Pyroclastic cone

Ceniza, Volcán

Pyroclastic cone

186 m

30° 26' 46" N

115° 58' 23" W

Kenton, Cerro

Pyroclastic cone

260 m

30° 28' 5" N

115° 59' 46" W

Mazo, Mount

Pyroclastic cone

80 m

30° 22' 8" N

115° 59' 49" W

Picacho

Pyroclastic cone

100 m

30° 27' 47" N

116° 1' 41" W

Riveroll, Cerro

Pyroclastic cone

230 m

30° 29' 13" N

116° 1' 8" W

San Martín

Pyroclastic cone

230 m

30° 29' 35" N

116° 6' 47" W

Sudoeste, Volcán
Southwest Hill

Pyroclastic cone

116 m

30° 26' 35" N

116° 1' 23" W

Woodford

Pyroclastic cone

Photo Gallery

Isla San Martín, 6 km off the west coast of Baja California, is the westernmost volcano of the San Quintín volcanic field and the only one that is located offshore. The 2-km-wide island is a small basaltic shield volcano that is capped by scoria cones that rise to 230 m above sea level. Wave erosion has truncated part of the shield volcano, forming the sea cliffs seen at the left on the south side of the island.

Photo by Jim Luhr, 1990 (Smithsonian Institution).

San Quintín volcanic field on the NW coast of Baja California contains lava shields capped by youthful scoria cones. This view looks south from Volcán Basu to Picacho Vizcaino (surrounded by young lava flows), and Volcán Sudoeste (upper left). These are among the youngest features of the San Quintín field. Along with Monte Mazo to the SSE, they are constructed along a N-S line.

Photo by Jim Luhr, 1990 (Smithsonian Institution).

The Volcán Sudoeste cinder cone and smaller cones at its base are part of the San Quintín volcanic field in México's Baja Peninsula. They are seen here from the north on the slopes of Picacho Vizcaino. Volcán Sudoeste is one of the youngest scoria cones of the San Quintín volcanic field. It lies on a narrow peninsula between the Falsa bay (left) and the Pacific Ocean (right).

Photo by Jim Luhr, 1990 (Smithsonian Institution).

Volcán Sudoeste, one of a group of young pyroclastic cones of the San Quintín volcanic field, is located at the head of a narrow peninsula jutting into the Pacific Ocean. Volcán Sudoeste, seen here from the north, may have initially been an island. The sand bars along the coast, formed by longshore currents, connect Volcán Sudoeste to Monte Mazo, at the southern end of a 10-km-long sand spit.

Photo by Jim Luhr, 1990 (Smithsonian Institution).

A vertical aerial photo shows the nested craters of Volcán Riveroll (right-center) and the intersecting craters of Volcán Basu (below and to the left). The Riveroll craters are breached to the NW (upper left). Dark-colored basaltic lava flows extend to the SE from both cinder cone complexes. The flow from Riveroll diverts around the Kenton cinder cone at the lower right. The light-colored areas are windblown sand. The Pacific coast shoreline is at the left, and the body of water at the upper right is part of San Quintín Bay.

Volcán Riveroll, seen here from the NE, is the northernmost of the southern group of cones of the San Quintín volcanic field. A broad crater truncates the summit of the cinder cone and is breached widely to the NW. A smaller nested crater, itself breached to the NW, was constructed within the original crater and is the youngest feature of the volcano.

Photo by Jim Luhr, 1990 (Smithsonian Institution).

Volcán Ceniza (left) and Volcán Kenton (right), seen here from near Chapala, are two of a group of young cinder cones in the southern part of the San Quintín volcanic field in northern Baja California. Along with the Riveroll cone to the NW, they are constructed along a NW-SE line, one of several fracture patterns in the San Quintín field. The two cones form a peninsula jutting into Bahia Falsa, part of which is visible at the left.

Photo by Jim Luhr, 1990 (Smithsonian Institution).

A vertical aerial photograph shows the small, roughly 1-km-wide Isla San Martín, the westernmost of the small volcanoes of the San Quintín volcanic field. Isla San Martín lies 6 km off the Pacific Ocean coast from the rest of the volcanic field and consists of a small basaltic shield volcano capped by a less than 40-m-high cinder cone. The peninsula at the SE (lower right) side of the island is formed by a lava flow.

The Woodford group (Ieft) and Media Luna (right), seen here from the SSE, comprise the northern group of cones of the San Quintín volcanic field. The Woodford group consists of a closely spaced cluster of breached cinder cones and associated lava flows. The large cone of Media Luna is breached to the east and fed a lava flow in that direction.

Photo by Jim Luhr, 1990 (Smithsonian Institution).

References

The following references have all been used during the compilation of data for this volcano, it is not a comprehensive bibliography. Discussion of another volcano or eruption (sometimes far from the one that is the subject of the manuscript) may produce a citation that is not at all apparent from the title.

WOVOdat is a database of volcanic unrest; instrumentally and visually recorded changes in seismicity, ground deformation, gas emission, and other parameters from their normal baselines. It is sponsored by the World Organization of Volcano Observatories (WOVO) and presently hosted at the Earth Observatory of Singapore.

EarthChem develops and maintains databases, software, and services that support the preservation, discovery, access and analysis of geochemical data, and facilitate their integration with the broad array of other available earth science parameters. EarthChem is operated by a joint team of disciplinary scientists, data scientists, data managers and information technology developers who are part of the NSF-funded data facility Integrated Earth Data Applications (IEDA). IEDA is a collaborative effort of EarthChem and the Marine Geoscience Data System (MGDS).